


Until

by msraven



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Christmas, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-25
Updated: 2012-12-25
Packaged: 2017-11-21 11:00:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,502
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/596974
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/msraven/pseuds/msraven
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>For Feelstide.</p><p>
  <i>We are gathered here today to witness the joining of our friends into the bonds of marriage...</i>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Proposal

**Author's Note:**

> Feelstide Prompt 93 - Christmas wedding/proposal.
> 
> All fluff warnings apply. 
> 
> Many thanks to Beena for being my accidental beta. :)

_===== February 14 =====_

It’s an unusually cold day for mid-February in New York, so Clint grabs one of the larger throw blankets before settling down on the couch to wait for Phil. He asks JARVIS to cue up “Casablanca” and wiggles deeper into the cushions. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Tony walk by, stop, and then backtrack into the room.

“Shouldn’t you and Agent Loverboy be at some fancy restaurant?” Tony asks. 

“Ugh, no,” Clint responds. “Even the best restaurants in the city end up serving a crappy set menu on Valentine’s Day.”

“So you’re not doing _anything_ for Valentine’s Day?”

Clint rolls his eyes at Tony’s shock. “I didn’t say that. We’re just not going out _tonight_. We have reservations at Le Cirque tomorrow.” 

It’s Tony’s turn to do the eye roll. “You are such a foodie.”

“Says the man who has at least four celebrity chefs on retainer,” Clint retorts.

“I think he’s up to five,” Phil says as he walks into the room carrying two large mugs of cocoa. 

Clint holds open one end of the blanket so that Phil can slide in next to him, taking one of the mugs from Phil and mumbling a quick thank you. Phil sits and leans into Clint’s side, pulling the blanket tighter around their shoulders with his free hand. Clint takes a sip of his cocoa and looks up at their resident billionaire, who is still standing next to the couch looking down at them. 

“Weren’t you on your way out?” Clint prods.

“You guys are really just going to sit around here all night watching old movies?” Tony asks. “After the example Agent set last year? Come on! _Everyone_ has dates tonight - even Bruce. All of us are going to be out except...”

Tony trails off and Phil smiles up at him blandly. Clint snorts into his cocoa - he can almost see the cartoon light bulb over Tony’s head. 

“Riiiiight...” Tony says. “I’m just gonna...”

“Goodnight, Mr. Stark,” Phil says and Tony speed walks out of the room as if he expects the two of them to begin stripping immediately. 

JARVIS starts the movie and Clint snuggles deeper into Phil. On cue, Phil switches the hand holding his mug and wraps an arm around Clint.

“Are you sure you’re okay with this tonight?” he asks and Clint pulls away just far enough to look at Phil directly.

“Yes,” Clint responds. “Nowhere else I’d rather be. Considering everything, this isn’t actually something we’ve ever done.”

Phil beams at Clint and the archer can’t resist moving in for a quick kiss. He keeps it short, but sweet, knowing anything more would quickly lead to them not actually watching the movie. Clint settles back against the couch and Phil with his eyes on the screen. He feels the brush of Phil’s lips against his temple and it fills Clint with a warmth that has nothing to do with the hot chocolate in his hands or the blanket around his shoulders.

Despite his best efforts, Clint finds himself unable to focus on the movie. He thinks back on how much his life has changed since Loki and almost feels a sense of gratitude toward the villainous god. Clint had always worked well with Agent Coulson - a man who led by example and instilled a sense of loyalty in everyone he worked with - but never spent much time with him outside of work. They had been friendly, if not actually friends. Coulson was Clint’s handler and seemed intent on staying strictly professional, so Clint had done his best to abide by the unspoken request. 

In the aftermath of Loki, however, both Clint and Phil had been left skirting the outskirts of SHIELD; - shunned unintentionally by agents who didn’t know what to do in the wake of Clint’s actions while under Loki’s control or Phil’s miraculous return from death. Clint and Phil began spending more time together, finding comfort and normalcy in someone who didn’t flinch every time they walked into a room. They quickly realized that they shared a lot of interests and began building a friendship outside the confines of SHIELD. Clint had expected the relationship to stay platonic. He had not foreseen taking part in events worthy of a romantic comedy.

It began, of all places, at the SHIELD holiday party. Clint and Phil had been standing to one side of the bar, debating a botched call from the Niners’ game when Sitwell walked by and made a crack about them hogging the mistletoe. Phil had rolled his eyes, a corner of lips pulling up, and Clint, relaxed by a few beers and the festive atmosphere, had leaned over to give Coulson a small kiss on the corner of his mouth. He hadn’t anticipated the shock which had gone through him at the small touch of lips against skin or the way Phil’s eyes had darkened in response. It had taken another two weeks for the newly discovered tension to bubble over, followed by the best sex and happiest thirteen months of Clint’s life. 

Phil had turned out to be a closet romantic. Which, if Clint thought hard about it, wasn’t that much of a surprise. Last Valentine’s Day, Phil had showed up at Clint’s door with a dozen red roses before taking him to a candlelit dinner at Tavern on the Green and, much to his chagrin, a carriage ride through Central Park. While Clint had appreciated the grand romantic gesture, and shown just how much later that night, a quiet night in followed by a nicer dinner the next night was much more their style. 

The closing credits start to roll and Phil stands, holding a hand out to Clint expectantly. 

“You couldn’t help yourself, could you?” Clint chuckles and lets Phil pull him up off the couch until their bodies are flush against each other.

“Are you complaining?” Phil asks.

Clint gives him a fierce kiss before responding. “I don’t mind you being a hopeless romantic, but Stark needled you for _months_ about the carriage ride.”

“I can deal with Stark,” Phil says and leads the way back to their recently renovated set of rooms. This one had been Clint’s grand gesture - a Christmas present to Phil. 

Phil walks them through the living room and out to the balcony. Near the railing is a small round table, a chilling bottle of champagne at its center along with two flutes off to one side. Clint takes a step forward, but stops when Phil pulls on his arm. 

“Before that...” Phil says.

Clint turns to face him just as Phil is dropping down to one knee. Clint’s eyes widen and all the air leaves his body.

“Phil...”

“I know this may seem fast,” Phil says with a smile. “But we’ve known each other for a long time. This past year has been better than I would have ever believed possible and...and I think life has taught us both to hold onto happiness when we can. Waiting won’t change how I feel. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Marry me?”

“Are you sure?” Clint can’t help but ask. He knows that Phil loves him, but Clint had never imagined them getting married.

“Yes, you big idiot. I’m sure.” Phil says fondly, but firmly. Clint pulls him up and into his arms, swooping in for a kiss that takes both their breaths away.

They pull apart long minutes later and Clint feels a surge of joy at the happiness radiating from Phil’s eyes. “You still haven’t actually answered,” Phil points out.

“Yes,” Clint laughs, feeling tipsy without a drop of alcohol. “Yes. Yes. Yes, you fluffy, romantic, sap. I’ll marry you. God! I can’t believe you asked me to marry you on Valentine’s Day. I love you, Phil. Of course, I’ll marry you. Even with your insane need to fulfill every romantic cliche you can think of.”

“About that...”


	2. The Wedding

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Phil had first suggested a wedding on Christmas night, Clint had hoped he was joking.

_===== December 25 =====_

“Stop fidgeting,” Natasha scolds and grabs Clint’s hands. She pulls them down from where he had been tugging at his cravat and lays them flat at his sides. 

Clint ducks his head sheepishly while Natasha straightens the cravat and smooths down his vest. Both the cravat and vest are a deep purple silk, beautifully embroidered with black and silver stitching. The pattern is subtle, but unmistakably mistletoe - an allusion to both the day and the event which led them here. Phil will be wearing a similar set, black silk with purple and silver stitching, and Clint can’t wait to see his fiance looking even more put together than usual.

“M’sorry,” Clint mumbles.

“You have nothing to be nervous about,” Nat reminds him.

“You’re not the one about to get married in front of a hundred people,” Clint retorts. “And don’t tell me to treat it like another op.”

Natasha lifts Clint’s chin with her fingers until he’s looking her in the eye. “Are you nervous about the wedding or the marriage?” she asks.

“Phil deserves everything to be perfect,” Clint says and it’s answer enough for Natasha.

“Pepper planned the wedding and you’re marrying _Phil_ ,” Nat reminds him. “You two are perfect for each other. Trust me when I say that the rest of us could see that _way_ before you guys came close.”

“Really?” Clint asks.

Natasha’s tinkling laughter goes a long way in unknotting the tension in Clint’s gut. “You have no idea.”

Clint grins and pulls her into a hug, burying his nose carefully into her hair without messing up the style. “Thank you,” he whispers.

Nat gives him one firm squeeze in return before stepping back to smooth down his vest again.

“Do you think you can get through the next fifteen minutes without ruining your tie?” she asks. 

“No promises,” Clint responds honestly and it earns him a fond eye roll and a cuff on the shoulder. 

He glances outside at the assembling crowd and his hands move up to neck without conscious thought. Clint doesn’t realize what he’s doing until Natasha grabs his hands again with a huff. He blushes and shrugs his shoulders in apology. Natasha wisely keeps Clint’s hands in hers until the ceremony is scheduled to start. 

When Phil had first suggested a wedding on Christmas night, Clint had hoped he was joking. But then Phil had mumbled something about mistletoe and turned hopeful eyes at Clint. Clint hadn’t been able to refuse. 

Planning a rooftop wedding between an Avenger and a SHIELD agent on Christmas Night had turned out much smoother than anyone would have expected. Asking Pepper for help was a no-brainer and there was nothing more formidable than the Potts-Coulson planning team. Pepper had looked ready to melt when they told her about the wedding plans, eliciting a scowl from Tony that was well worth the embarrassment. Clint should not have been surprised that Phil and Pepper already had a pre-prepared list of what to avoid.

“Do you still have the notes?” Phil had asked.

“You mean from our discussion on the Baxter Bldg. fiasco?” Pepper responded. “Of course.”

“You guys did a post-mortem on what went wrong with Sue and Reed’s wedding, didn’t you?” Tony asked. 

The matching smiles on team Potts-Coulson was answer enough. It was also enough for Clint to stay far away from the rest of the wedding planning. Clint didn’t need to know what level of threats had been required to keep even the trashiest reporters at bay in the weeks leading up to the wedding. Clint feared for any television stations that would dare send helicopters to the tower that night, although he hoped all the footage they had of Hawkeye taking out scores of Chitauri Flying Doohickeys would be enough of a deterrent. 

A few of the others had chipped in where they could - Fury agreed to officiate, Bruce somehow knew a local florist, and Steve painted them a beautiful portrait, whose matting would serve as the guestbook during the wedding. SHIELD as a whole had put Operation Mistletoe into action, led by Agents Sitwell and Hill. They released a dragnet that swept through the Eastern seaboard and grabbed any crime lord or potential villain who could raise enough of a ruckus to disturb the wedding. It was the best present Phil and Clint could have hoped for. 

The only part of the wedding that Clint asked to take full control of were the suits. Phil had been surprised, but conceded when it was clear that Clint was serious. The concession in itself was a huge sign of trust. Clint had worked with Natasha on the design for the vests and cravats, placing them under the Christmas tree for Phil to open earlier that morning. They had previously agreed that their titanium wedding rings would be their presents to each other, but Clint had never been great about following instructions. He’d watched as Phil lovingly traced his fingertips over the buttons on the vests - Clint’s carved with miniature arrows and Phil’s with bullets - and figured he was forgiven. 

The rooftop of Avengers Tower is now beautifully decorated for the wedding. Rows of silver chairs creating an aisle that leads to a large Christmas tree where the ceremony will take place. Everything from the flowers to the tree is accented in purple, black, and silver. 

Clint takes a deep breath as the door in front of him opens and he hears the music of Sting’s “Until” start up. He tucks Natasha’s hand in his elbow and steps out at the appropriate time, looking across the roof at Phil walking toward him with Pepper on his arm. Clint is so busy being amazed at how handsome Phil looks and that Phil actually wants to marry _him_ , that he doesn’t realize for four full steps that the song is not a recording. It must show on his face because Phil smiles and cuts his eyes to the right. Clint follows and there, just behind the guests, is Gordon Sumner himself. Clint’s eyes flash back to Phil’s and his smile widens into a grin. Phil has somehow gotten Sting to serenade their wedding. It’s only the pull of Natasha’s arm on his elbow that keeps Clint from running across the distance to Phil and giving him a proper thank you.

They continue walking at a measured pace and meet in the center of the aisle, just in front of the tree and Fury. The two women give them each a kiss before leaving for their seats. Pepper is openly teary and Natasha’s eyes are suspiciously bright. Phil reaches out a hand and Clint takes it just as a light snowfall begins to descend. They both look over at Thor who smiles back beatifically. 

Phil and Clint turn to face Fury just as the closing notes of the song fade. They hold on tightly to one another as Fury begins to speak.

“We are gathered here today to witness the joining of our friends into the bonds of marriage...”

_fin_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you're curious about the restaurants I chose in the first chapter, I picked them from this [site](http://www.nyc.com/best-of-new-york/top_romantic_restaurants_in_new_york.s685/). Tavern on the Green is pretty famous and I've actually eaten at the Le Cirque in Las Vegas. 
> 
> A link to a YouTube video with lyrics for the song: ["Until" by Sting](http://youtu.be/qhux77ihl2E)


End file.
